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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Evita - Like The Ocean, We Rise Again

Evita - Like An Ocean, We Rise Again

Like An, Ocean We Will Rise Again is Evita’s Debut EP. This EP is of the Metalcore genre and was released in November 2007 by Glasstone Records. Although this album has the structure of Metalcore it has many characteristics of Deathcore and is incredibly. The sheer heaviness of this EP has dwarfed any other Metalcore release I have heard.

This is a relatively unknown band from the UK. The UK has some of the greatest Metalcore bands coming out from there and Evita can certainly stand tall alongside them. This debut EP is very good and seems to wrap Deathcore and Metalcore in a nice little package. Not only does it have the characteristics of Metalcore by its clean vocals and song structure, but it has Deathcore style breakdowns and distorted vocals. The result of these two forces combing is an insanely heavy Metalcore EP. Also the breakdowns are not the lazy style and there is a real sense of heaviness by the way the combine their distorted guitars with the slow drumming and the vocals are very Deathcore like and are very distorted. The music itself is not overly technical or tires to be fast, this makes their melodies better.

There are three vocalists in this band and I’m guessing that they all have specific job. I’m guessing one does, growls, one does screams and the other one takes care of the clean vocals. This is great because they are all concerting on 1 thing, rather than both screams, growls and clean vocals. Also this is one of the very few Metalcore bands that utilize pig squeals and guttural growls. This is very odd but it has only improved this EP. The vocalists all tend to take their time and are almost perfectly in sync with each other so there is no confusion. Also they have really melodic riffs which make it sound great. This is what makes them Metalcore rather than Deathcore. Also there is a lot of emotion in some of the tracks, something Deathcore doesn’t usually have. The Recording quality is actually very good for a debut release and all the instruments and the vocals are well balanced. So there is no overly powerful drumming or vocals.

This EP has some of the heaviest tracks I have heard coming from a Metalcore band. This is a total of 6 tracks on this EP and 1 is a musical, this is still a decent size for an EP. This EP has the heaviest Metalcore breakdowns around. The best ones would have to be in the tracks Mercy Across your face and Lapdance Girl. If you like very slow breakdowns, Lapdance Girl is fairly slow but the breakdown in Monroe Faked It All is very slow and lasts for quite some time. This EP isn’t just plain heaviness it has a very melodic side to it. The track The Elysium Fields has the best melodies and it has a sense of emotion to it as well. The track that has the most sense of emotion would probably have to be the track Mercy Across you face. Mercy Across Your Face has the best song structure out of all the tracks. The best part is where it goes from the chorus and into a emotional musical for a few seconds and then dives into a heavy breakdown. After that it goes back into the chorus, they have put a lot of thought into that track. There is really nothing overly extreme in terms of speed in this EP but Lapdance Girl is probably the most speedy and technical in the whole EP. This is Metalcore though so it doesn’t really need excessive speed and technicality to it. Also the intro which is called Embrace The End gives you a very brief snapshot of what you can expect from this EP.

Although this is a really good Metalcore album there are a few things that may disappoint song new listeners. The first thing is that the clean vocalist is actually very bad, he does not have the best voice for clean vocals around. He doesn’t have much tone and sounds really unenthusiastic. For some reason this has a major impact on the way the songs flow. When you go from really good distorted vocals to very bad clean vocals it destroys the mood. Also the clean vocals don’t sound very clear, I’m not sure if it’s the actual recording or the vocalist but it is not very good. Also it doesn’t really have any emotional qualities to the clean vocals. Some may say that it does but I don’t think that the clean vocals are as good as what they should be. Also some times the screamer stuffs up his voice, the most obvious example of this is in the track Beyond The Rising Sun. The vocalist sounds like he loses his voice in the middle of a scream and it sounds like he is just clearing his throat. It also sounds like he is screaming incorrectly, but that doesn’t really matter that much. As long as it sounds good, it’s just that if he keeps screaming like that his voice will only get worse and worse. Also they tend to over use the chorus in the track Monroe Faked It All. It’s a bit weird because they have to transition every few seconds and they do this at least 5 times in such a short time period.

Another thing they should have done is utilize their double kick a little bit more, they only use it a few times but even then it’s not that great. Also the guitarist doesn’t really have the best solos either, that is probably why he only used it once in the song The Elysium Fields. The solo isn’t really fast or even have a good melody to it. Also the guitar sounds very echoed during that solo and the sound of it warps a lot. The final downside to this EP is that many parts in this EP where it sound hollow and struggling to get up to speed. This is usually before a chorus or after a breakdown.

Overall this is a pretty good debut EP. Although there are many improvements to be made such as the clean vocals and transitions, this still has some of the best Metalcore breakdowns and the melodies sound great. I think that this band has huge potential to be one of the best Metalcore bands out there. This was a great start to their young careers and I want to see where they will head from here. This EP is very creative in the sense that this is only of the only bands that I have heard of that Mix Deathcore and Metalcore characteristics properly which I would like to see them continue to do in the future. Not only that but I’m sure that many other bands would like to have a go at trying this them self. That is probably what makes this album so unique. I would recommend this to anyone who likes Metalcore, Deathcore, Post-Hardcore, Screamo and Emo Metal. It will definitely make a nice addition to any collection. I also recommend the track Mercy Across Your Face because it has a emotion, good melodies/vocals and a great breakdown. Overall Like An Ocean, We Rise Again is one of the most creative and heaviest Metalcore releases I have heard and this is a great start for Evita and I am expecting their popularity to rise dramatically very shortly. I give Like An Ocean, We Rise Again a 17/20. ﻿